press releases

O’Melveny to Add Six New Partners in 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York—December 18, 2017—O’Melveny is pleased to announce the firm’s 2018 partner class: Caitlin Bair (San Francisco), Kevin Feder (Washington, DC), Leah Godesky (New York), Amy Lucas (Century City), David Ni (New York), and Daniel Shamah (New York).

“The lawyers in our newest partner class embody the qualities that set O’Melveny apart: first-rate legal ability, unfailing client service, and an authentic commitment to the communities in which we practice,” said Bradley J. Butwin, chair of O’Melveny. “We look forward to their continued growth and to the positive impact their contributions will have on the firm for years to come.”

Caitlin Bair

Caitlin is a vital member of our Health Care and White Collar Criminal Defense practices, bringing significant investigative and regulatory experience to health care and life sciences clients. A well-rounded litigator, she honed her skills in trade secrets litigation, class action suits, and contractual disputes. She received her law degree from the University of Michigan in 2007 and her bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 2002. A leader at the firm and within her greater San Francisco community, Caitlin was recognized with a Warren Christopher Values Award, the firm’s highest honor, in 2014. She joined O’Melveny after summering in the San Francisco office and clerking for Ninth Circuit Judge Ronald M. Gould in Seattle.

Kevin Feder

A leading authority in the health insurance space, Kevin specializes in representing health insurers embroiled in payment disputes with large healthcare provider systems such as hospitals and independent physician associations. He also maintains an active False Claims Act practice, representing health insurers that have been sued by the United States, state governments, or private qui tam relators for allegedly submitting false claims to various governmental agencies. He received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2007 and his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 2002. In 2007, he joined the firm’s Century City office, then moved to Washington, DC, in 2009.

Leah Godesky

A tireless litigator, Leah has cultivated a versatile practice as a team leader on some of the firm’s biggest cases, with a focus on trials and arbitration hearings. As a member of the Securities Litigation practice, she has extensive experience in securities-fraud, insurance-coverage, and complex-contract disputes, and her varied clients include domestic and global financial institutions, insurance carriers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and public and private companies spanning a range of industries. Leah also maintains an active pro bono practice, most recently partnering with the ACLU on a successful constitutional challenge. She joined O’Melveny in 2009 and is an active firm leader, serving as co-chair of the New York Women’s Affinity Group and Summer Program. Leah received her law degree from Columbia Law School in 2009 and her bachelor’s degree from Colgate University in 2004.

Amy Lucas

Focusing her practice on complex commercial litigation at both the trial and appellate level, Amy regularly handles major litigations in a wide variety of areas, including entertainment, contractual, and intellectual property disputes, business torts, products liability cases, and class actions. Her clients span various industries, including major motion picture studios, media companies, producers, pharmaceutical companies, major financial institutions, and consumer technology products companies. In 2017, Variety featured Amy as an emerging leader in entertainment law. Amy also devotes significant time to pro bono matters, litigating on behalf of pro bono clients in both civil and criminal matters, including in trial courts, federal courts of appeals, and the US Supreme Court. Amy received a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in 2003 and, after pursuing a career in marketing, received her law degree from UCLA School of Law in 2008. She spent her second summer of law school, as well as part of her third year, in the firm’s Century City office and clerked for the Honorable Sandra Ikuta on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals before rejoining O’Melveny as an associate in 2009.

David Ni

A member of the Capital Markets group, David uses his broad expertise and experience to guide issuers and underwriters in transactions across the capital markets spectrum, including IPOs, leveraged finance transactions, convertible notes offerings, liability management transactions, remarketings, and forward offerings. He also assists public companies with securities law compliance and corporate governance and stock exchange advice. He graduated from the University of Toronto with an Hon. B.Sc. in 2005 and received his law degree from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, in 2008. Before joining O’Melveny, David was a capital markets associate at a leading Wall Street law firm. In addition, he completed secondments on the equity capital markets legal team at a prominent investment bank and in the Office of the Prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Daniel Shamah

Seamlessly blending restructuring and litigation expertise, Daniel advises financial institutions, hedge funds, and public and private companies in a wide array of restructuring, bankruptcy, and insolvency cases, focusing his practice on lender liability, fraudulent conveyances, complex commercial litigation, and other distressed debt investment situations. Daniel also has deep experience advising companies and financial institutions in cross-border insolvency and chapter 15 cases. He received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 2006 and his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in 2003. Daniel joined O’Melveny in 2006, initially practicing as a litigation associate, before clerking for US Bankruptcy Court Judge Martin Glenn, a former O’Melveny litigation partner.

About O’Melveny

O’Melveny’s clients shape markets, set precedents, and break boundaries. They are stalwarts and innovators, the names you trust, and the next big thing. And for more than a century, O’Melveny has been right beside them, punching through walls and putting up defenses to help our clients achieve their most important goals. With approximately 700 lawyers in 15 offices worldwide guided by the principles of excellence, leadership, and citizenship, we uphold a tradition of treating our clients’ challenges and opportunities as our own. What do you want to achieve? For the answers, please visit www.omm.com.

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